Bearing.



B. L. LAWTON.

Patented Apr. 14, 1914.

3 vw@ ntoz B. L. LAWTON.

` BEARING.

APPLICATION FILED 00T.13, 1913.

1,093,194.- Patented Apr. 14, 1914.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

-wi/bweom: @www/lio@ BURTON' L. LAWTON, 0F MERIDEN, CONNECTICUT.

BEARING. y

' Speccation of Letters Patent.

ratentea npr. 1a, rara :Application filed. ctober 13, 15H3.v Serial No.794,807.

To all whom it may concern.' i

Be it known that I, BURTON L. LAWToN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Meriden, New Haven county, Connecticut have invented certainnew and'useful Improvements in Bearings, of which the following is afull, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to an improved antifriction bearing which may. beemployed with particular advantage as a means for connectingto a vehiclea shock absorbing device such as shown in Lawton Patent No. 1,022,145 ofApril 2, 1912.

Among the main objects of this invention 4is to provider aV bearingwhich'is so c'onstructed as to guarantee freedom of operation, and whichis alsoso constructed that i sorber of a form suitable to in the eventof wear, any Worn or broken part or parts may be readily removed and anew part substituted. 4

Inthe drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation on a small scale of a comlete shock. ab-

my improved end supporter bearing.' Fig. 2 is a relatively enlargedsectional view of the end {itt-ing assembled on a bracket or support.Fig. 3 is a view of the outer end of the supporting bracket. Fig. 4 is aview of the inside of the holding nut. Fig. 5 is a view` of4 the outerfacev of a supporting washer., Figs. 6, 7 .and 8 illustrate detacheddetails.

This invention is illustrated in connection with a vehicle shockabsorber, such asl shown in the aforesaid patent, the shock absorbingmeans being located at l. 2-3 are arms respectively associated with saidshock absorbing means, and which arms have a scissors-like movement.Ubviously these arms, to be connected with the vehicle,` must beprovided with a suitable pivot connection at their f-ree ends to permitthe aforesaid scis sors action to take place as the vehicle body movesup and down. @ne of these arms is pivotally connected at its end to thecar body, while the other is pivotally connected to the car axle.

ln Figs. 2 and 8 are shown on a relatively enlarged scale, the variousparts of one of the end bearings in detail. inasmuch as the arms of theshock absorber referred to are comparativel. thin, being made from sheetmetal, vit is o viously necessary that the end bearing should have thecapacity of supporting the shock absorber against tendency to side sway,and the most obvious means for guarding against this comprises a washerplaced on each side of the arm around the pivot. It is most import-ant,however, that the end bearings should work freely; that is to say, theyshould not bind to such an ex tent as Vto interfere in any way with thepredesigned action of the shock absorber l.

The present, improvement, therefore, contemplates, among other things,the provision of means for preventing any one from sotightening upeither end bearing as to produce the` aforesaid objectionable bindingaction. A

4 is a stud carried by a bracket of suitable design for attachment tothe car body or car axle.

v5 is a combined bearing-sleeve and spacer snugly mounted upon the stud4:. This part 5 is in the form of a seamless tube polished L on itsouter surface and constructed of a suit- I able bearing material. emounted on 6 is ,a bushing suitably secured against l movement in theend of the shock absorber 1 arm..4 YIn the present instance, the bushing`6 has an external angular middle portion, which ts into a correspondingpassage in the end of the arm. rlhe ends of the bushing are turned downinto circular form, as indicated atA 7-1-7. As shown in Fig. 2, the arm2 is made of two thicknesses of comparatively thin sheet metal. Theseare located in about the center of the bushing 6, and it is, therefore,necessary to fill out the sides of the arm 2 to a thicknesssubstantially equal to the length of said bushing. Accordingly, I applyfilling-out washers 8--8 and retaining end washers 9 9 fitting over thecircular ends 7-7 of the bushing and holding the bushing against endwisedisplacement. This group of washers building, up the end of the shockabsorber arm is riveted together and to the arm, as indicated at SPL-9,vwhereby the end of the arm is made practically solid. 'lhe bushing 6 ismade of an appropriate bearing metal for cooperation with the bearingmetal of sleeve 5 and said bushing is provided with an annular greasegroove or pocket therein which may be filled with a non-fluid lubricant.rlhe sleeve 5 maybe made from steel or iron, while-the bushing 6 may bemadey from phosphor-bronze, or vice versa, these two metals when usedyin conjunction having a comu monly known low coeiicient of friction.

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, 4a. A suitable pin or lug 10a preferably projects from .this washerinto a notch in the shoulder to prevent the washer from turning on thestud, thereby avoiding squeak, The sleeve 5 is placed over the Stud 4after 'the washer 10 is put in place, so that its inner end will abutagainst the outer face of the washer 10, as shown in Fig. 2, it beingessential that the innerl end of the sleeve shall takeup against-'somefixed abutment,

whereby its outer end will operate to properly space the outersupporting washer 11, as later described. When the sleeve 5 is in place,the end yof the arm carrying the bushing 6 is slid over the sleeve, thebore of the bushing having a proper bearing fit upon said sleeve.- Theouter supporting washer 11 is then applied and finally the holding nut14, which is screw-threaded upon the stud, is applied and screwed up tobring the 4parts into their predesigned operative posltion. The outersupporting washer 1l has a pin or lug corresponding to the lug 10a onthe washer 10 for engagement with the nut 14, so that these two metalparts may not turn one against the other, thereby avoiding squeak. Anysuitable means may be p rovided to prevent this independent rotatlon ofthewasher 11 and nut 14, the means employed being an obvious mechanicaleX- pedient. Between the supportmg washers 10 11 and the washers 8 9 arelocated noiseless` anti-friction washers 12-12 respectively' whichwashers are non-metallic and have bores somewhat larger than thediameter of the spacer sleeve 5. The edges of the supporting washers 10and 11 are preferably rolled in somewhat to remove the sharp edges ofsaid washers and to form a shallow cup to support the edges of the non:metallic parts 12-12. The non-metallic washers 12-12 are suliicientlythick so that the rolled-in edges of the supporting washers.

cannot by anyv possibility engage with any metallic portion of the endof the arm, since such-engagement would be liable to cause squeak, and,in the even't of excessive wear, a noticeable rattle. By employing anonmetallic material between the side supporting washers and the end ofthe arm, when the bearing becomes worn, as inevitably occurs in time, tosuch aldegree as to allow the parts to have loose side slap, this sideslap will not produce objectionable noise, because the non-metallicywashers operate as noiseless pads and deaden the sound. The nut 14 maybe of the usual castellated type and a cotter pin 15 maybe employed tohold the nut against shaking loose. All the parts are so designed as toproperly hold the shock absorber against side slapv without binding.From the foregoing it is apparent that it is impossible to screw up thenut 14 so as to cause objectionable binding at the end bearing, eitherat the initial fitting of the shock absorber to a car or after it hasbeen in use.

A distinct advantage of the spacing means which prevents the end bearingparts from being clamped so tightly as to bind, as distinguished fromany end bearing in which the parts may be intentionally orunintentionally turned up so as to bind, is that in the latter case` ithas been found that the non-metallic washers wear down very rapidlyuntil binding pressure disappears and until the parts work freely. Thishasty wearing down of the non-metallic parts of the supporting washerswears away a considerable portion-of the v-noiseless pad material and itis liable to expose they turned-in metallic edge of the washer, which isliable to engage some metallic portion of the end of the shock absorberarm, as may readily be seen by reference to Fig. 2, and thereby invitesqueak or undesirable rattle. On the contrary, when the spacer sleeve isemployed, the supporting washers cannot be screwed up so tightly as tocause binding and grinding of the parts, and hence the wear on thenon-metallic washers will be -comparatively slow and a suflicientportion of the non-metallic material will stand beyond the edge of eachsupporting washer to protect it and .I

bearing sleeve 5 becomes worn, as is boundl to occur in time even thoughthe parts work freely, the shock absorber may be removed from the endfittings by simply removing the nut 14, whereupon the worn sleeve 5 maythen be removed from the stud 4 without detaching the stud 4 from thebracket or without detaching the bracket from the car. A new sleeve maythen be readily slipped into place on the stud, whereupon the shockabsorber'may be reapplied. Should the bushing 6 be badly worn, that maybe removed and a new one substituted by simply releasin the end washers9 9, removing the bushlng and inserting a new one, then reapplying thewashers" 9 9. -In the event the non-metallic washers become so worn asto permit an excessive amount of side slap, these washers may be readily.degree.

duce the incidental friction to the.4 utmost What I claim is:

l. In an anti-friction bearing support for shock absorbers, a supportingstu a pair of side supporting Washers mounted thereon, a holding nut onsaid stud and a removable combined bearing and spacer sleeve mounted onsaid stud, a shoulder at one end of said'stud forming a rigid abutmentfor one end of said sleeve, said sleeve serving to space the holding nutat a fixed distance from said shoulder.

2. In an anti-friction bearing support for shock absorbers, a supportingstud having a shoulder at one "end and screw-threaded at its other end,aheldi-ng nut threaded on said threaded portion of said stud, a`combined spacer and bearing sleeve removably mounted .on said stud andarranged to hold said nut a fixed distance from said shoulder, a

member rotatably mounted upon said sleeve,

and slide supporting Washersr carried by `said stud and arranged tosupport said rotatable member against side slap.

3. In an anti-friction bearing support for shock absorbers, a supportingstud having a shoulder at one end and screvv-threaded at its other end,aA holding nut-threaded on said threaded portion ofsaid stud, a combinedspacer and bearing sleeve removably mounted on' said stud and arrangedto hold said nut a ixed distance from said shoulder, a member rotatablymounted upon said sleeve, and side supporting Washers carried' by saidstud and arranged to support said rotatable member against. side slap,said rotatable f member including a central removable bushing arrangedto bear directly on said combined spacer and bearing sleeve.

BURTON L; LAWTN. Witnesses:

R. C. MrrcmLL, E. C. WILcoX.

